| Above Blue | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Myra Melford and The Same River, Twice | ||||
| Released | April 6, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | March 31 and April 1, 1998 | |||
| Studio | Systems II, Brooklyn, NY | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 62:31 | |||
| Label | Arabesque AJ0142 | |||
| Producer | Myra Melford, Dave Douglas | |||
| Myra Melford chronology | ||||
| ||||
Above Blue is an album by pianist Myra Melford's group The Same River, Twice which was recorded in 1999 and released on the Gramavision label. [1] [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| All About Jazz | [4] |
The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos stated "Melford, an original voice on piano if there ever was one, keeps on stretching. With her potent quintet the Same River, Twice, she is the fuse for explosions of deep group interaction, offering visceral harmonic statements while injecting her busy, dancing, at times pensive, and occasionally cluster-laden outspoken style to the forefront, its territory mapped by very few. ... It's easy to find the joy and brilliance in the music of Melford, not to mention the clarity. As she further asserts her muse in a quest to continually be unique and different, everyone benefits, learning and growing as she does. This kind of music is indeed high art, rare, but unquestionably within reach". [3]
In JazzTimes, Bill Shoemaker wrote "On Above Blue (Arabesque), two trend lines merge, and spike upwards as a result. One represents the maturation of her cohorts ... The other line charts the increasing natural flow and communicative immediacy with which Melford animates weighty compositional propositions. Throughout this wide-ranging program, Melford goes a step beyond a seamless mastery of the recombinant Downtown aesthetic of the ’80s and ’90s to achieve a rare paradox: by writing so precisely to the strengths of her collaborators, she has created highly personal work". [5]
On All About Jazz, Glenn Astarita said "On Above Blue, Ms. Melford’s impressive track record of performing with top-notch musicians and churning out enticingly complex compositions remain intact. ... Above Blue may in fact be Melford’s finest outing to date. The brilliant ensemble work coupled with Melford’s multifaceted upfront compositional style makes for compelling listening. Myra Melford is one of jazz’ treasures and has accomplished quite a bit during her 10 year tenure within the modern jazz scene. Above Blue along with Ms. Melford’s “Same River Twice” band is a bold yet deeply personalized statement from this brilliant pianist-composer", [4] while Robert Spencer observed "Myra Melford's piano is a welter of extraordinary activity, although unlike some other players with her power, even when her playing is at its most furious it always seems to be melodically, not percussively, rooted. She is once again surrounded on this disc by cutting-edge modern jazz players ... This group navigates Melford's rhythmically tenuous and complex ensemble passages with notable aplomb. The music is always excellent, albeit somewhat hard to classify: Melford draws from the spectrum of the jazz tradition to create something utterly new. Its emotional range is breathtaking and the virtuosity of the performers is tremendous ... What's most impressive is how finely crafted this music is, while at the same time leaving so much space for each instrumentalist to display his creativity to the utmost. Recommended". [6]
All compositions by Myra Melford
Myra Melford is an American avant-garde jazz pianist and composer. A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow, Melford was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as an "explosive player, a virtuoso who shocks and soothes, and who can make the piano stand up and do things it doesn't seem to have been designed for."
Marty Ehrlich is a multi-instrumentalist and is considered one of the leading figures in avant-garde jazz.
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My Conception is an album by jazz pianist Sonny Clark, recorded for the Blue Note label and performed by Clark with Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Paul Chambers, and Art Blakey. It was originally released in 1979 in Japan, as GXF 3056, featuring six tracks recorded in 1959 including an alternate take of "Royal Flush", a track that had appeared on the album Cool Struttin'. The 2000 limited CD reissue also comprised the three additional tracks originally recorded for Sonny Clark Quintets, an album which never saw the light of the day until being released later only in Japan.
Song Out of My Trees is an album by Henry Threadgill released on the Black Saint label in 1994. The album features five of Threadgill's compositions performed by a variety of ensembles that include Threadgill, Ted Daniel, Brandon Ross, Jerome Richardson, James Emery, Ed Cherry, Myra Melford, Tony Cedras, Amina Claudine Myers, Diedre Murray, Michelle Kinney, Gene Lake, and Reggie Nicholson.
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Alive in the House of Saints is a live album by pianist Myra Melford's Trio which was recorded in Germany in 1993 and released on the HatART label. The album was originally released as a single CD in 1993 then as an expanded double CD in 2001 and as two separate volumes in 2017/18
Even the Sounds Shine is a live album by pianist Myra Melford's Extended Ensemble which was recorded in Germany in 1994 and released on the HatART label the following year.
The Same River, Twice is an album by pianist Myra Melford which was recorded in 1996 and released on the Gramavision label.
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Out of the Mist is an album by saxophonist Joseph Jarman and violinist Leroy Jenkins, which was recorded in 1997 and released on the Ocean label. Jarman, Jenkins, and pianist Myra Melford would go on to form the collaborative trio Equal Interest.
Equal Interest is an album by Equal Interest, a collaborative project by saxophonist Joseph Jarman, pianist Myra Melford and violinist Leroy Jenkins, which was recorded in 1999 and released on the OmniTone label.
Go is an album by jazz bassist Paul Chambers recorded in Chicago in 1959 and released by the Vee-Jay label. Featured musicians include trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, pianist Wynton Kelly and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The album was re-released in 1997 as a double CD featuring additional recordings and alternate takes from the sessions and included as part of the Mosaic Box Set The Complete Vee Jay Paul Chambers/Wynton Kelly Sessions 1959-61 in 2000.
The Art of Improvisation is a live album by violinist / composer Leroy Jenkins. It was recorded in October 2004 at an AACM concert in New York City, and was released by Mutable Music in 2005. On the album, Jenkins is joined by the members of his world music improvisation group, Driftwood: Min Xiao-Fen on pipa, Denman Maroney on piano, and Rich O'Donnell on percussion.
Joëlle Léandre Project is a live album by bassist Joëlle Léandre. It was recorded in January 1999 at Sons d'Hiver in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France, and was released in 2000 by Leo Records. On the album, Léandre is joined by pianist Marilyn Crispell, drummer Paul Lovens, electronic musician Richard Teitelbaum, and violinist Carlos Zingaro.
The October Revolution is a live album that documents a concert celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 1964 music festival known as the October Revolution in Jazz. It contains two long tracks, dedicated to composer, trumpeter, and festival organizer Bill Dixon, by a quartet that features drummer Rashied Ali, pianist Borah Bergman, saxophonist Joe McPhee, and bassist Wilber Morris, plus a single short track featuring the Myra Melford Trio, led by pianist Melford, and featuring bassist Lindsey Horner and drummer Tom Rainey. The album was recorded on October 22, 1994, at the Fez Room under the Time Cafe in New York City, and was released in 1996 by Evidence Music.
